Free Web NovelChapter 298: 298 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 9
Several months passed after that, and now there was little time left until the start of the original Edgerunners story. During that time, V had become accustomed to the work, delivering goods well and earning some money, and he told me that he had prepared his own place in Megabuilding H10, like in the original.
So, partly to give him a custom ’Tsunami Nue’ as a congratulatory gift, I visited him, looked around his place, and had a drink with him. As a fan of the original, being able to see V’s apartment was a very enjoyable thing.
Now, V’s business seemed like it would be fine until the start of the original 2077, so setting that aside, I needed to think about ’David Martinez’, the protagonist of Edgerunners. The story unfolds starting with the death of David’s mother, Gloria Martinez, and I was conflicted about whether to save her or not.
In the original, Gloria had planned to sell the Sandevistan implant she had recovered to Maine, but due to the accident, she couldn’t deliver it to Maine, and David ends up using the Sandevistan. If I saved Gloria, the Sandevistan would end up in Maine’s hands, and the problem was with the Sandevistan.
That Sandevistan is a military‑grade implant, and when used, it causes neural acceleration, making the user’s movements extremely fast. But it was made with only performance in mind, without consideration for the user, so the body cannot withstand it, and it carries the risk of gradually progressing into cyberpsychosis. From the start, its origin was from the body of Lieutenant Norris, who was a cyberpsycho and was killed — so that says it all. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
For Maine to implant such a thing was unthinkable. He was already in a precarious state, and the moment he implanted the Sandevistan, the possibility of him turning into a cyberpsycho was very high. If that happened, the collapse of Maine’s team would be practically unavoidable, and the worst‑case scenario — having a victim from the very beginning of the original — might occur.
’If I just take the Sandevistan and make it disappear, I won’t be able to see the Rebecca‑David couple that I was aiming for... would I have to watch them die in the end?’
While I was agonizing over this, the news on TV was about Lieutenant Norris. He had become a cyberpsycho and was rampaging through the city, slaughtering people and NCPD officers. In the end, ’MaxTac’, the NCPD’s special unit created to stop such incidents, stepped in and dealt with Lieutenant Norris.
’The original is finally starting.’
The news only showed the aftermath scene. I also caught a glimpse of Gloria tidying up the scene. She was working as an EMT for ’R.E.O. Meatwagon’, and was illegally harvesting implants from the dead to sell on the black market.
The reason she did such illegal work was to have her son David study at the academy run by Arasaka, so that he could join Arasaka. The academy run by Arasaka is not only expensive for ordinary people to afford, but it is also difficult to cover the incidental costs of expensive equipment and programs. So Gloria had no choice but to do this kind of work to earn money as well.
Of course, Gloria doing such things cannot be called righteous, but true to the Cyberpunk worldview, most people working as EMTs like Gloria did such things secretly to earn extra income. So I think Gloria also easily turned to such work due to her circumstances.
’I should go and see.’
When I prepared to go out, Lucy, who had been lazing around at home, asked.
"Where are you going?"
"Just for a walk. I’ve been cooped up just tinkering with guns."
"Bring me a Melona."
Whenever Lucy went shopping, I jokingly said that, and now Lucy said the same thing to me when I went out.
"Do you even know what a Melona is?"
"I don’t know. But for some reason, that phrase sounds affectionate."
"It does. Anyway, I’ll get some groceries while I’m out."
"Okay."
I went outside, drove the car, and was waiting in front of Arasaka Academy, passing the time. Because three days after the Lieutenant Norris incident, the car carrying Gloria and David would be caught in a shootout by the Animals gang while driving home and get into an accident, overturning. But since the accident location was on an elevated highway, I wasn’t sure exactly where it was. So I just waited in front of the academy, sucking on a Melona.
"Finally coming out."
Since I had timed it, I didn’t have to wait very long.
I slowly drove the car, keeping a distance behind the car Gloria was driving. Gloria’s car was an old ’Thorton Galena’ — perhaps because it was old, the paint was peeling off here and there, and there were many dents. That car seemed like a symbol revealing the harsh reality of David’s family.
Following like that, when they entered the elevated highway, I also went up onto the elevated highway. Before long, the Animals gang’s shootout began, and when the target vehicle overturned, Gloria’s car, which was right behind it, was caught in it and flipped over in an instant.
SCREECH—! CRASH!!
David was still inside the overturned car, but Gloria, unluckily, was thrown out and lay on the road.
’This is why seatbelts are important.’
At that moment, Trauma Team appeared from the sky. They briefly looked at Gloria lying on the road, then, without taking any action, left her just as she was, and only rescued the VIP customer inside the target vehicle.
Trauma Team is an organization that provides emergency medical services for VIP customers. In the Cyberpunk worldview, gunfights and violent incidents are so frequent that this service effectively functions as a life insurance for the wealthy. When a VIP customer is in danger, armed rescue teams are dispatched to the scene on transport aircraft, extracting and treating the customer even amid gunfire. But for David’s poor family, that didn’t apply.
Even so, to see an injured person right in front of you and just pass by without any action — it made the viewer frown.
At that moment, I heard David’s voice from inside the car, urgently calling out to Gloria.
"Mom!!! Mom!!!"
To be honest, I was still conflicted. Honestly, my heart was leaning towards just letting her die. But David’s cries kept echoing in my ears, and I began to feel that I had become no different from a Trauma Team bastard, which made me feel bad. So, in the end, I decided to save her.
"I suppose I have no choice."
I drove to the accident site, first pulled David out of the overturned car, and rescued him.
"Hey, kid. Are you okay?"
"I’m fine. But my mother..."
"Wait a moment."
I went to Gloria and checked her condition. But her condition was quite serious. She seemed to have suffered a severe blow to her head when she was thrown from the car, and she was experiencing brain hemorrhaging.
"Damn, there’s no time. Kid! Get in my car right now."
"Ah, okay!"
I loaded Gloria and David into my car and quickly moved to Viktor’s clinic. Viktor, who had been watching a boxing match, quickly assessed the situation and attended to Gloria.
"Damn! It’s a brain hemorrhage. We need to operate right away! But this is bad. I don’t think I can do it alone..."
"I’ll help. I have medical knowledge too."
"Thank god. Let’s start right away."
Viktor and I hurriedly began surgery to save Gloria. The surgery took quite a long time, but fortunately, we were able to save her.
"Phew... I was thinking of finishing early and resting since there were no patients today, but what a bolt from the blue."
Viktor, exhausted, collapsed into a chair and sighed loudly. Then David asked Viktor.
"My mother..."
"I saved her. I managed to stop the bleeding."
At those words, David’s tense expression relaxed, and he was relieved.
"But I don’t know what kind of work she does, but her body has accumulated a lot of fatigue, so her physical condition is terrible, and on top of that, the brain hemorrhage was severe, so we’ll have to watch her condition. It’s too early to be relieved. I’ll keep an eye on her here for the time being, and when she improves, it would be best to move her to a care facility." frёeωebɳovel.com
"I-I see. Anyway, thank you."
Viktor pointed at me and spoke.
"You should thank this guy. If we had been even a little later, she would have been brain dead or we wouldn’t have been able to save her."
"Jin, thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to save my mother."
David bowed his head and thanked me sincerely.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Of course. If you live in Night City, you can’t not know you. You’re the most famous among active mercenaries, aren’t you."
"I suppose."
Then Viktor called David.
"You look a bit hurt too — come here."
Viktor took out various things and treated David as well.
"Ow ow ow..."
"You’re a man, stop whining. More than that, from the condition of your mother that I just operated on and your condition, it looks like a car accident."
"Yes... unluckily, we got caught in a gang shootout."
At those words, Viktor sighed.
"Haa... well, that’s Night City for you."
When Viktor finished treating David, I paid Viktor for the surgery and hospitalization fees. Actually, it was a bit much to call it hospitalization. Because Viktor’s clinic was quite small, so he had laid out bedding on a folding cot and moved Gloria to one side. So Viktor charged a bit less.
David thanked me once more.
"Thank you. I’ll definitely pay you back."
"You look like you’re still a student — pay me back when you’re older, or something."
David stayed by Gloria’s side for a while, then said he was going home, so I gave him a ride.
"Here. Your mother’s clothes."
"Yes."
I paused as I handed over the clothes and spoke.
"I don’t know why your mother had this, but it would be best to get rid of it quickly."
"Huh? What do you mean..."
I showed David the Sandevistan hidden inside the jacket Gloria had been wearing. Then David seemed extremely surprised to see it.
"What is this..."
"From your reaction, you didn’t know. This is a military‑grade Sandevistan. A very dangerous implant. It’s something that ordinary people can’t handle."
"Why would my mother have something like that..."
When David panicked, I asked.
"What’s your mother’s job?"
"An EMT."
"Hmm... it seems it’s an implant she stole secretly."
"But..."
David had a hard time accepting that fact. But if he thought about it a little, he would realize it right away. That an EMT’s salary alone would be far from enough to cover the expensive tuition of Arasaka Academy. So Gloria had been preparing the tuition by even taking such dangerous risks.
"Anyway, I don’t plan to get involved in this matter, so do what you want."
"Yes..."
I had already hidden it so Viktor couldn’t see, and duplicated it with my [Material Copy] ability.
After giving David a ride home like that, I returned home, and Lucy was very angry.
"What took you so long to come back!? You could have at least contacted me — I was worried!"
"There was a car accident, you see. I was taking care of that."
"What? Is that for real? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Not me, but the car in front of me. It was attacked by a gang, flipped over, and blew up, and people were thrown out and everything."
At my words, Lucy sighed.
"Haa... I wonder if I should say that’s just like Night City..."
"More than that, I’ll make you a Melona, so try it."
"What? Melona is food?"
"Yeah."
"Wow... I’m more surprised by that than the accident."
I made ice cream out of real melon and shared it with Lucy. It had a bit of fiber, so it was a bit coarser than real Melona, but well, I managed to implement it somewhat similarly. Lucy also ate it deliciously.
Anyway, with what happened today, one thing I was curious about got resolved. I learned by treating Gloria myself, but in the original, Gloria Martinez was probably declared brain dead because she arrived at the hospital too late.
But the hospital lied to David, saying they should wait and see, to squeeze more money out of him. Moreover, the hospital where Gloria was hospitalized was a hospital with a very dark reputation, so the possibility was very high that Gloria was either taken away for human experimentation, or had her organs sold, and then cremated.
I was also curious about this point, so I had wanted to see the scene myself.
’After taking her implants and organs, they would fill her urn with garbage to make up the weight. Human scum.’
As expected, the Cyberpunk worldview is a place with no dreams or hopes.
